Louis Moreau Institute Staff
Morris Rosenzweig
Artistic Director, 2015 - Present
Morris Rosenzweig, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Utah now living in New Orleans again, grew up in an extended family which has lived in southern Louisiana since the mid-1890s. His works have been widely presented throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Japan, Argentina, Mexico and Israel. Among the noted ensembles who have brought these works to life are Speculum Musicae, "Piano and Percussion-Stuttgart", The New York New Music Ensemble, the Chamber Players of the League-ISCM, EARPLAY, NOVA, Philippe Entremont with the New Orleans Symphony, and Joseph Silverstein with the Utah Symphony. His recorded compositions are available on the Albany and New World labels. Rosenzweig's catalog of over 75 entries features works for orchestra, various chamber ensembles, compositions for live instruments and electronics, two song cycles, two piano cycles, solo pieces, and one opera, Box and Cox.
Recent activities include the New York premiere of an extended work written for Talujon Percussion and the upcoming premiere and recording of a commissioned piece for viola and electronics,
Mr. Rosenzweig has received honors from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation for a residency at Bellagio. Other distinctions include those from American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund. Mr. Rosenzweig is an active conductor and coach and worked for many years with various groups in New York, and both the Canyonlands Ensemble, and The New Music Ensemble in Utah.
As a professor at the University of Utah for over 30 years he taught composition, theory, contemporary performance practice, and directed the Maurice Abravanel Visiting Distinguished Composers Series – he has formerly held positions at Queens College and New York University. A frequently invited speaker, he has given colloquia at Harvard, Brandeis, Stony Brook, and the University of New Mexico, among others, and served as Guest Composer at the Composers Conference at Wellesley. He was educated at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University.
Recent activities include the New York premiere of an extended work written for Talujon Percussion and the upcoming premiere and recording of a commissioned piece for viola and electronics,
Mr. Rosenzweig has received honors from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation for a residency at Bellagio. Other distinctions include those from American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund. Mr. Rosenzweig is an active conductor and coach and worked for many years with various groups in New York, and both the Canyonlands Ensemble, and The New Music Ensemble in Utah.
As a professor at the University of Utah for over 30 years he taught composition, theory, contemporary performance practice, and directed the Maurice Abravanel Visiting Distinguished Composers Series – he has formerly held positions at Queens College and New York University. A frequently invited speaker, he has given colloquia at Harvard, Brandeis, Stony Brook, and the University of New Mexico, among others, and served as Guest Composer at the Composers Conference at Wellesley. He was educated at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University.
Wesley Ducote
Assistant Artistic Director, 2022 - Present
A versatile pianist with roots in New Orleans and Lake Charles, Wesley Ducote regularly performs works dating from the Renaissance to the current decade as well as the standards in between. As an enthusiastic contemporary musician Mr. Ducote has performed many of the pillars of 20th/21st century repertoire from Wuorinen’s New York Notes to the Ligeti Piano Concerto. He is often seen collaborating with some of today’s brightest stars including composer/vocalist Kate Soper, Emmy winning composer and Vietnamese folk musician Van Anh Vo, flutists Leone Buyse and Carol Wincenc, soprano Ana Maria Martinez, and many others. Highlights of this season include premieres by composers Karim Al Zand, Anthony Brandt, Theo Chandler, and a new piano concerto by Max Vinetz. Ducote holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in music from Rice University, where he studied with Brian Connelly, as well as an undergraduate degree in mathematics. He currently resides in Miami Beach as a piano fellow with the New World Symphony.
Stephen Montalvo
Executive Director, 2019 - Present
Stephen Montalvo (b.1984) is an active composer and performer of acoustic and electronic music, as well as an audiovisual installation artist, based in New Orleans, LA. Through his music, he explores concepts related to resonance and rhythmic interplay and draws inspiration from social, ecological, and political concerns. His works have been performed throughout the United States, and internationally at the Osaka University of Arts Electronic Music Festival, by artists and ensembles including the Portland Percussion Group, Megan Ihnen, Rhythm Method String Quartet, Bent Duo, Talea Ensemble, and the Omaha Percussion Ensemble. Additional collaborations include audiovisual installation projects for LUNA (Light Up NOLA Arts) Fête and SALON Gallery, hosted by the New Orleans Arts Council, as well as with the Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave.
As a percussionist, Stephen has participated in performances with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, Midland Odessa Symphony and Chorale, Texas Medical Center Orchestra, and the Louis Moreau Institute for New Music Performance. He currently performs nationally with Mike Dillon’s New Orleans Punk Rock Percussion Consortium as well as in New Orleans with various local performers.
Stephen holds a Master of Arts in Music Composition from Tulane University where he studied with Maxwell Dulaney and Rick Snow and a Bachelor of Music from West Texas A&M University, where he studied percussion with Susan Martin Tariq and composition with Joseph Nelson and Robert Denham. Current affiliations include the Society of Composers, the National Association of Composers/USA, and the Vic Firth Education Team as a Scholastic Educator and Marching Percussion Specialist.
As a percussionist, Stephen has participated in performances with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, Midland Odessa Symphony and Chorale, Texas Medical Center Orchestra, and the Louis Moreau Institute for New Music Performance. He currently performs nationally with Mike Dillon’s New Orleans Punk Rock Percussion Consortium as well as in New Orleans with various local performers.
Stephen holds a Master of Arts in Music Composition from Tulane University where he studied with Maxwell Dulaney and Rick Snow and a Bachelor of Music from West Texas A&M University, where he studied percussion with Susan Martin Tariq and composition with Joseph Nelson and Robert Denham. Current affiliations include the Society of Composers, the National Association of Composers/USA, and the Vic Firth Education Team as a Scholastic Educator and Marching Percussion Specialist.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Morris Rosenzweig, Director
Alan Gerson, Associate Director
Mary Jane Ciccarello, Secretary
Seth Harris, Treasurer
Roger Dickerson
Lawrence Dutton
Julie Schwam Harris
Seth Harris
Lois Martin
Devin Maxwell
Mary Beth Meyer
Dennis Miller
Eric Murrell
Chuck Taylor
Raymond Tymas-Jones
Morris Rosenzweig, Director
Alan Gerson, Associate Director
Mary Jane Ciccarello, Secretary
Seth Harris, Treasurer
Roger Dickerson
Lawrence Dutton
Julie Schwam Harris
Seth Harris
Lois Martin
Devin Maxwell
Mary Beth Meyer
Dennis Miller
Eric Murrell
Chuck Taylor
Raymond Tymas-Jones
